Copyright Terminology

公共领域

Items placed in the public domain are free of all restrictions.

Freeware or "Copyleft"

These items are protected by copyright, but the owner has given permission for free non-commercial distribution. You should read the copyright terms to determine if the author has retained any distribution rights. 为 example, many "freeware" copyrights require you to obtain permission before including the software in a commercial product.

共享软件

These are commercial programs distributed on the "honor" system. 你可以 to copy the program and use it for a specific time period (typically 30 days). If you decide to keep the program, you must then pay a shareware fee to the copyright 持有人. 共享软件 has become a popular method for small software publishers since it bypasses conventional marketing channels.

一些

一些 are crippled copies of commercial software. They permit you to test out the program, but you must purchase the software before you gain full functionality. 为 example, the demoware may be identical to the full product except that it can不 print 或者保存文档.

复制受保护的

Some copyrighted software includes special coding that prevents successful copying. This can take the form of an encryption key, use of a hardware enabler or use of a 专用密钥盘. In recent years, copy protection has fallen into disfavor since it often introduces many complications for legitimate users. It is important to 不e that copy protection is 不 the same as copyright. Even if an item is 不 copy protected, it may still be copyrighted and therefore illegal to duplicate the material.

Useful copyright link

• The Copyright 网站 has very readable interpretation of the law and summaries of recent cases.